24 Hearts

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Chapter 3-1. ‘Black Tree’ Tribe

He didn’t know what to say about being called their spirit, so Judah could only laugh at it bitterly. Isabel, too, had a bittersweet smile on her face. It didn’t seem like a short story, so when he flipped his blanket and got up. He picked up his blanket, took two steps ahead, and politely asked her.

“Can you wait a minute? We can’t lie down here to talk so, please wait in the living room. I’ll get ready soon.”

Isabel looked at Judah silently and nodded her head. All Judah was wearing now was not the leather armor that fitted his body as she had seen before, but a thin dress for resting. Isabel stood up and went outside, and Judah unfolded his blanket wide, tidying up and changing his clothes. Because of the code’s effect, it could cleanse, so his -Black Wolf’s Leather Clothes Set-, which he sat down in a corner, waited for him like a brand new set.

‘Um… It feels like a school uniform.’

He didn’t know if he felt that way because he wore the same clothes, but it was a good thing that he didn’t have to worry about what to wear. He noticed that one of his pockets for his three daggers was empty. He threw one to catch an orc and remembered that he couldn’t retrieve his body because it had fallen into the river. He opened the -bag- and pulled out a spare dagger, and stuffed it in. When he was ready to go, Judah came out into the living room to see Isabel, Jeanne, and Arhil sitting awkwardly at the table.

“You’re late.”

“Well, I came out quickly…”

She glanced at his clothing. The tribesmen here tend to wear leather clothes roughly, so they might not understand that changing clothes took time.

“…I’ll come out faster in the future.”

“Woohoo, good. Hahaha!”

She suddenly burst into laughter, satisfied with Judah’s answer. When Judah put his hand in the air and pulled his item out of thin air, she gasped in admiration. He took out a fruit smoothie bought from Aslan and a special sandwich sold in Serenia Castle, looking as scrumptious as ever. He brought plenty of local goods in his -Bag-, so it wasn’t a burden to entertain the guest.

“You have a special ability. Are you really not a spirit?”

Judah smiled and gave her smoothie in a cup, looking at her with vigilant eyes. It was just dinner, so he took out plenty of meals, so she wouldn’t lack even if she had enough.

“Is it outside food? These are the first things I’ve tried. It looks unique.”

She paused as she reached out, looking down at the bowls and cups Judah pushed to her. She only picked up her portion after Arhil and Jeanne took their sandwiches. She observed them, not knowing how to eat them. She forgot her purpose in visiting Judah as she took a bite, her eyes widening.

“Delicious…!”

After the softness of chewing, the crunchiness of fresh lettuce, and the taste of the salad in it spread throughout her mouth. The first food she ate startled her. It was a great shock to her, who thought that all food didn’t taste the same. She wasn’t always eating meat and fruit. She pushed a piece of her sandwich straight into her mouth. Chewing with her eyes closed like accepting God’s blessing.

“This is awesome. Is this what the outsiders eat?”

She really seemed to have forgotten her purpose of coming here. After one question, she continued with making a sandwich, what ingredients were in it, how much it cost, is it readily available, and can they make this sandwich or something similar in their tribe? And after hearing the answers, she contemplated deeply. Judah, which was the main reason for her visit, suddenly dishes, including sandwiches. Isabel may be from a tribe hired by empires and elsewhere for mercenaries, but she did not seem to receive food from them. She knew just how to make jam from fruits, so she exchanged with Judah some explanations to the best of her knowledge.

“Right. That’s good information. Next time the empire’s envoy comes, I’ll have to ask the chef and some cooking ingredients. I thought it was no different, whether outside or here, but this changed my mind. To strengthen trade with the outside world would be a good start. What do you think? What do you think?”

She seemed to seriously consider ways to interact with the outside world through cooking, and he didn’t know how to answer because of it. Judah was cautiously speechless, as he chose to return to the point rather than answer her questions.

“Sure, but… Did you come to talk about food?”

“Huh? My bad. Right. Come to think of it, that wasn’t the purpose why I came here. This sandwich is so delicious that I got distracted without knowing it. I’m sorry.”

“No, there is nothing to apologize for.”

She smiled naturally and reached out for the sandwiches in her bowl, but, contrary to her belief, her hand grabbed her empty air. She had eaten it all. When she glanced at Arhil and Jeanne’s bowls, she could see that they had all eaten theirs as well. Seeing that the only sandwiches left were in Judah’s bowl, she looked sad and tried to tell her story about her quest. Judah noticed her reaction, so he pushed his bowl to her. After leaving Regen anyway, they could always get more sandwiches.

“Thank you. Um- Did I say that the orcs annihilated the village?”

“Yes.”

“But it may not have been annihilated by the orcs.”

“Yeah?”

He looked at her in confusion.

“When I got to the village, I didn’t find any live orcs. Of course, there were orc corpses, and there were also bodies of tribesmen. But there was one thing in common with their bodies. They were cut into pieces. Sharply. Neatly. I mean, exactly by the waist. Not just the waist. Some were beheaded, some were cut by the waist, and some were cut diagonally.”

“…”

“It was done by humans. Some monsters could make such a sharp attack, but if they did this, they wouldn’t have left a body. They would have eaten them all. It’s suspicious that the women were also killed if we assumed that the orcs did it. Do you know? Why do you think it is weird for orcs to slay a woman?”

Judah nodded in reply.

“Orcs needed human women or women of different races to reproduce.”

“Right. It is rare for them to kill women who are usually unable to resist. And even weirder… While I was there, another group of orcs appeared later.”

“Why?”

“Well, I don’t know that. It could be the orc that killed the tribe! Or maybe they were there to be framed. Or maybe they were greater orcs that somehow appeared. Either way, it’s not a good thing. Even if it was a small tribe, a tribe had been driven extinct.”

Her eyes opened sharply.

“This is a threat to the Black Tree tribe. It’s unacceptable. If another tribe were trying to come for us apart from the Red Bear tribe, that would be unacceptable, and if one of the orcs appeared to have a talent for sword handling, that would be impossible.”

“Well…”

This was a big headache and big trouble. Judah looked embarrassed because he had a rough estimate of what she would ask for. Although he knew that her quest wouldn’t give him a bad reward, the real reason he came to Regen was the Thirteenth Fragment in the Red Bear Tribe. It was to check whether the Yakal of Wrath was in the owner’s hands or if Kain came here and took it. If Kain didn’t take it, he was also aiming to retrieve the fragment at any cost.

He watched the Flagstaff competition in Aslan, the capital of Philoria, and he made up his mind not to be impatient, but he came here so he could check it out as soon as possible.

‘Shall I do the favor and ask something in return?’

She seemed to favor him, so he thought it would be okay to use the opportunity.

“Then, can I hear exactly what you’re asking us to do?”

“I didn’t intend to do this in the first place. Remembering how you dealt with the orcs yesterday, I think you have a great strategy, so can I ask you to scout the orcs? Of course, you don’t know much about geography here… Among our tribesmen, I’ll send with you someone knowledgeable of it. Can you do it?”

“I don’t think it’s more difficult than I thought if it’s just scouting.”

“It’s funny to ask such a request to you strangers. It’s our job originally, so I shouldn’t be asking for this. But isn’t it fun to have someone who can face a horde of orcs alone and fearlessly?”

If someone like that was available, why not put it to good use, right? Judah nodded his head, admiring her frank answer.

“Okay. Then I’ll be happy to help.”

And the moment he accepted her request, the quest appeared.

「Chief Isabel’s Request 1-Scouting the Orc Village」

[The Black Tree tribe’s chieftain, Chief Isabel, is suspicious of a tribe’s extinction overnight.]

[It didn’t seem to be the doing of a monster… There aren’t just one or two things that didn’t fit in if the orcs did it.]

[She thinks a third party is trying to segregate the Red Bear and Black Tree tribes.]

[But first, a group of orcs came down to the village, so you should investigate the orcs first.]

[Make sure there are no unique orcs in the nearby orc tribe.]

The only information provided was the same things they talked about in their conversation. He looked at the quest content with his eyes and turned the window off.

“Then, I’ll send someone tomorrow morning. Excuse me for coming this evening, and for the delicious meal. If you’re going to eat this sandwich tomorrow morning, I’d like you to have more.”

She revealed her personal wishes. After she left, Judah thought that he had changed into her leather clothes for no reason, so he returned to his comfortable outfit and spent the night talking briefly with Jeanne and Arhil.